Tales of the Wanderer: Sing-a-Long
by star.ranger4
Summary: Being an account of the mayhem a cross dimensional traveler, one 'Muck' Thunders manages to create during his time aboard the Macross 7 colony fleet
1. Chapter 1

Michael 'Muck' Thunders finally pried his eyes open, trying to ignore the pounding behind said eyes and between his

ears; It at least slightly reminded him of what a hangover felt like, even if he could not remember the last time he

had actually suffered from said condition. Overhead, a very generic pattern of ceiling tile…

So, no way of knowing if they were familiar or not.

A look around told him wherever this unfamiliar ceiling was, it wasn't a hospital. Given the monitors around him,

and the semi reflective glass off to his right; the smart bet was either a detention cell or some sort of research

facility.

"Ah. Your awake. Finally."

Muck's neck snapped and popped as he swiveled his head to the right, where the voice came from behind the glass.

Right. Recall was hazy enough he should assume he'd crashed FRED on the 'Re-entry' side of the portal. How long

was I?

/We have been unconscious due to cerebral blunt force trauma for 4 hours, 32 minutes due to loss of vehicular

stability and control on insertion. /

Maybe even somewhere familiar? Certainly, the voice seemed to be. Well, the external voice, anyway. The other

he'd had far too long living with; regardless of if one used objective or subjective measurement.

/Affirmative. Vocal Voiceprint matches several memory records from 112 years, 3 months… Extreme Irritation

detected. Entering standby mode. /

A green haired woman snapped into visual focus. Green hair meant he wasn't 'home'; Patricia had Red Hair and…

and why couldn't he remember who the other was? She was important to him as well! 'WHY IS HER NAME

ESCAPING ME?' he found himself screaming at himself.

/Assumption: That returning to person: Haruna, Patricia, is more important in long run to older relationship with

Codename: Jedi. Supplemental: Visual match confirmed to one Milia Sterling. Possible alternate identity Milia

Jenius. /

"Milia? Milia. Milia Sterling, or Jenius?" he finally blurted out.

"Jenius. WAIT. Who is Milia Sterling?"

"The Meltrandi wife of Maximillian 'Genius' Sterling… The man you tried to kill before falling in love with him the

next fica over; hence the difference in names. He would be Maximillian Jenius here." Muck informed the woman he

hoped would be an ally in time.

*Okay. It looks like this fica is part of the Macross continuity instead of the Robotech one.*

/Assumption filed. Updating memory retrieval parameters until disproved. Warning: Cumulative cognitive and

physical impacts are causing eminent loss of cognizance. /

"WHAT? WHO… WHAT are you? How did you get here? What is it your hoping to achieve?"

"I'll have to answer that right after I… recover from… pass… ou….."

/Resumption of Cognitive Coherence detected. Returning to standby mode. /

*Status?*

/Assumption: Previous short-term cognizance forgotten. Status: Loss of control occurred after dimensional

insertion. Colloquial: We pranged 'big time'. Instances of shifting forms to facilitate recovery have also occurred./

**Is FRED?**

/Confirmation: Intelligence designated 'Fantastically Ridiculous Electronic Device' possesses intact central

processing, personality, and memory capacity. Lack of communication ability assumed to be a result of damage to

communication and sensor peripherals. Assumption: FRED is focused on self-repair, after which communication will

be restored. /

**And?**

/We have not been transferred from the detention and or research facility in which you previously returned to

cognizance. Additional suspected security forces have been placed in immediate threat/detection range.

Warning! Security forces appear to be aware of your cognizance regardless of your attempts to conceal it. /

"Right…" 'Muck' sighed to himself as he rolled his head to the side and opened his eyes, only to have impulse over-

ride circumspection as he blurted out; "Seriously? Who does your hair, John Romita?"

Clearly, the blue haired man in the military uniform with what Muck thought of as 'Wolverine peaks', both did not

get the joke, over and above the way said soldier instantly drew his sidearm at Muck identified him as both a soldier

and one who had apparently been born with NO sense of humor… or history. Which meant this young warrior was

probably going to be seriously bound by the letter of the local regulations. The corollary of that would be his guard

would be far too willing to shoot first and probably never bother to ask ANY questions what so EVER! Muck figured

he could well survive such an encounter, but however it ended it would not be a 'Good Ending' in the terms Muck

used to judge such things.

"What? Who?" his blue haired captor blurted in response before his captors training took over, as shown by his

captors change in stance and body language. "What is your Name, Rank, and Identification!"

"Rather doubt I have any rank or identification you would be able to authenticate, soldier; but my Name is Thunders.

Michael Thunders. Don't suppose you'd be willing to share your name?"

"Gamlin Kizaki." This information was followed by a general stiffening of his captor's body language, which Muck

assumed meant his guard had not intended to reveal that information and was trying to regain control of the

situation.

/CAUTION!/

*Warning acknowledged! Form Shift REJECTED! *

/Acknowledged. Transferring suppositions based on observations. /

*Data acknowledged*

"Relax, Warrior of the clan Kizaki. Well, relax as much as I expect the Micloned offspring of a Meltran and Zentran

will ever be able t0 do."

"WHAT?! How?"

"Sorry, Kizaki-san. I expect the answer to that is above your pay grade." Muck levered himself up, only to feel the

pull of medical sensors all over his head, so chose to lay back down and settle for scanning to the left and right inside

the constraints of the Mk 1 eyeball while not moving his head.

"Ah. Thank you, Thunders-san. This prototype is rather delicate and I don't think it would appreciate you stressing

the sensor leads by thrashing about." The voice was coming from behind Muck's head, which would explain why

Muck had not seen this person.

"And you are?" Muck wondered; He rather hoped that his interpretation of the infections he was hearing were

indicative of the sort of !SCIENCE scientist who was really bad at censoring information. Probably still hadn't realized

he was potentially in the line of fire.

"Chiba. Doctor Gadget Chiba!" the voice behind him responded, forcing Muck into a rather disdainful snort of

response.

"Sorry, the Spacy isn't buying that. A Gadget is a thing, not a person in every fica I've been, Doctor. Have you tried

selling that line to the Zentradi?" Muck rebutted, before the sound of a weapon being readied drew his gaze back

past his feet. Yes, Gamlin Kizaki had drawn his sidearm and had it pointed at Muck. "Because to judge by Kizaki

drawing his sidearm, I'd say they're not interested in buying either."

"Masahiro. Dual Doctorates… SIDEARM?" Well, the !Science type was aware of the threat now, and Muck had to

admit to himself that the sounds that indicated a panicked dive for cover? Okay, maybe it shouldn't have been

funny, but then again, this Doctor Chiba struck Muck as even more clueless than other !SCIENCE types he had

interacted with in the past. Names he was sure he would recall once this concussion was healed.

"See Doc? That wasn't so hard. Hard is going to be shaming Kisaki there to stop pointing his sidearm at a prisoner

currently wired for sound." Gamlin kept glaring, but made a show out of putting his sidearm on safe before

holstering it. "Or, Not.," Muck chuckled at Gamlin's overblown hurt expression. "So, Exotic Energies? Just what sort

of exotic energies are we talking about here, Doc?"

"The power of songs. Did you know Lynn Minmei stunned a fleet of five million with the force of her songs?"

"Know it? Doc, I was there. Well, maybe not in your timeline, but the next Fica over."

"Fica? I don't' think I've heard this measurement before."

"A specific location in multi-dimensional space and time, Chiba. Hard to explain unless you've got a doctorate in six-

dimensional math. And before you ask, I don't, so don't. Ask, that is."

"And why should we believe this?" a new voice demanded, causing Muck to look over. Both of the two new arrivals

were familiar to him, but he only remembered being introduced to one of them. "Ah. Milia. And that means the

bloke in the command uniform next to you is Max. Well, Jenius Maximillian, to be formal. What rear echelon idiots

took *THE* husband and wife ace pilots out of the cockpit and forced you into command?"

"That would be Hikaru Ichijyo and Misa Hayase."

"Rick and Lisa Hunter to me. What happened?"

"I don't think that is information you…"

"*WHAT* *HAPPENED* *TO* *MY* *FRIENDS*!"

"The First Colony fleet, defended by Megaroad 02 is missing and presumed lost."

"BLOODY HELL! Ow… bleep… I think I'm about to pass out on you all…"

"Well, Chiba?" Maximilian Jenius demanded after the three exited the room.

"All I can say for certain is what he is not, Captain; Madam Mayor. While I don't have conclusive proof, I do not

believe he is related to whatever the enemy forces that have been draining our citizens of our life force are, the

creatures our colonists have been calling 'vampires'. I won't go as far as to agree he is what he just claims he is, but

these readings… He at least has some sort of strange connection to the same energies we use to space fold; and you

have already seen the video recordings of him somehow becoming something akin to a miniature Battroid while

unconscious. These are not what I would expect of some sort of…"

"Get to the point, Doctor," Miliya demanded.

"Madam Mayor. The point is that we have no reason to think he is trying to deceive, and if anything, these readings,

along with his statements only seem to support the claim that not only is he from another 'fica' to use his own

terminology. Everything I have seen, heard, and measured seems to support the theory that somehow, he is from

somewhere... well… Else. Another 'Fica' to use the same term he just did. But just what he is or why he is here?"

Dr Chiba just shook his head. "I respectfully decline to speculate. Which includes the speculation of the possibility

of compatibility with Project M."

Miliya glared sharply at her husband. "And just what is Project M?"

While in many ways M. 'Gadget' Chiba would have loved to be anywhere but in the middle of this discussion, he was

a member of UN Spacy. And that meant one had to sometimes take one 'for the team,' even when it often seemed

like the team were the upper echelons who didn't care much about anyone but themselves. Max Jenius… In the

years he'd served aboard the M7 colony fleet? In Chiba's mind his captain was someone WORTH taking 'one for the

team' over.

"Shortest form, Madam Mayor? Project M is a way to… weaponize the disruptive effect Lynn Minmei's songs had on

unsuspecting Zentran and Meltran alike during the Macross' attack on Lord Boldoza's fleet," Chiba admitted. "The

same. Disruption that allowed a single Supervision Army 'Ship Destroyer' to penetrate and eliminate a *COMMAND

ASTEROID* designed to defend against the most powerful ships the Supervision Army were known to have!"

Miliya forced herself to look her husband that she had… no… still loved even though the stresses of her position

seemed to have driven them apart. "You would authorize this project?"

"To defend my wife and youngest daughter? Yes. Even if neither of you ever spoke to me again, I would say a

thousand times yes, Miliya, my wife," Max confirmed. "I would rather be rejected a thousand times over than to see

you or Mylene hurt or dying."

"And who are the sacrificial lambs who would do this. Max?"

"Apparently, the only ones who can are… 'Fire Bomber', my wife."

"*FIRE BOMBER?* The band that has captured our youngest daughters hopes?"

"And her skills as both a singer and an instrumentalist! If I had any other choice…"

"No. I *REFUSE* to believe the man who defeated me… No less than THREE TIMES, I might add, and thereby caused

love him would choose such a thing, Jenius Maximillian."

"Do we have another choice? *ANY* other choice, Miliya? I would not choose to send ANY of our daughters into

danger if I could, any more than you would!"

"Then how do we protect her?"

"We assign this Micheal Thunders, this 'Star Ranger' as he calls himself…'This Wanderer,' as Chiba-sensei calls him,

to you, as well as Lt. Gamlin, who is the sole survivor at the moment of Battle 7's elite flight. I can draft a second

pilot if you don't have a candidate of your own. Assign all three of them to 'Diamond Force' under your own

command, with orders that their efforts are the direct protection of the members of 'Fire Bomber' both in combat

and aboard while Chiba builds the hardware for Project M."

"I wish…"

"Milyia. When we first met you believed in me unconditionally. Enough to leave EVERYTHING you knew as a

Meltrandi to be Micronized and defeat me, only to choose to be with me. I ask you this once more. Let me do this…

as a way to protect you and our youngest."

"For our youngest, yes. And having Lt. Gamlin closer to hand might have another benefit as well. I am hoping

Mylene might just find him suitable."

"Our Daughter… who defied both of us in order to become a passionate performer in her own right? Somehow, I

don't think what you think of as the traditional ways for either of us will help Lt. Gamlin. You do realize she has been

attracting almost as many fans as that maniac Basara?"

"I don't know that maniac is truly the right term. Passionate, definitely. Flying into a combat zone in the hopes his

singing will affect the enemy does come close. But, somehow, I don't think he is truly insane, my husband."

"Then this is probably the best plan we have for now. Miliya? What happened? To… Us?"

"We lost Miyasa and Hikaru. As Chiba's 'Wanderer' said. They were our friends. Their departure leading the second

colony fleet was already hard on us. Then when the second colony fleet vanished the way it did…"

"Hurt me as well. So, you threw yourself into your duties to organize the Colonist section of the fleet, while I hid in

my duties to prepare our military force."

"And grew apart because the needs of the two are so different. What becomes of us now, Captain?"

"We buy Time, Madam Mayor. Time to get our charges to safety. Time until our duties no longer drive us apart.

Delay until we have the freedom to see if we can regain what we both buried away in our hearts."

"And until then?"

"What we have always done. Pretend to be strong. Defend our peoples and our daughter. And then, maybe, we

have hope."

BLOODY HELL! Ow bleep I think I m about to pass out on you all

Well, Chiba? Maximilian Jenius demanded after the three exited the room.

All I can say for certain is what he is not, Captain; Madam Mayor. While I don t have conclusive proof, I do not believe he is related to whatever the enemy forces that have been draining our citizens of our life force are, the creatures our colonists have been calling vampires . I won t go as far as to agree he is what he just claims he is, but these readings He at least has some sort of strange connection to the same energies we use to space fold; and you have already seen the video recordings of him somehow becoming something akin to a miniature Battroid while unconscious. These are not what I would expect of some sort of

Get to the point, Doctor, Miliya demanded.

Madam Mayor. The point is that we have no reason to think he is trying to deceive, and if anything, these readings, along with his statements only seem to support the claim that not only is he from another fica to use his own terminology. Everything I have seen, heard, and measured seems to support the theory that somehow, he is from somewhere... well Else. Another Fica to use the same term he just did. But just what he is or why he is here? Dr Chiba just shook his head. I respectfully decline to speculate. Which includes the speculation of the possibility of compatibility with Project M.

Miliya glared sharply at her husband. And just what is Project M?

While in many ways M. Gadget Chiba would have loved to be anywhere but in the middle of this discussion, he was a member of UN Spacy. And that meant one had to sometimes take one for the team, even when it often seemed like the team were the upper echelons who didn t care much about anyone but themselves. Max Jenius In the years he d served aboard the M7 colony fleet? In Chiba s mind his captain was someone WORTH taking one for the team over.

Shortest form, Madam Mayor? Project M is a way to weaponize the disruptive effect Lynn Minmei s songs had on unsuspecting Zentran and Meltran alike during the Macross attack on Lord Boldoza s fleet, Chiba admitted. The same. Disruption that allowed a single Supervision Army Ship Destroyer to penetrate and eliminate a *COMMAND ASTEROID* designed to defend against the most powerful ships the Supervision Army were known to have!

Miliya forced herself to look her husband that she had no still loved even though the stresses of her position seemed to have driven them apart. You would authorize this project?

To defend my wife and youngest daughter? Yes. Even if neither of you ever spoke to me again, I would say a thousand times yes, Miliya, my wife, Max confirmed. I would rather be rejected a thousand times over than to see you or Mylene hurt or dying.

And who are the sacrificial lambs who would do this. Max?

Apparently, the only ones who can are Fire Bomber , my wife.

*FIRE BOMBER?* The band that has captured our youngest daughters hopes?

And her skills as both a singer and an instrumentalist! If I had any other choice

No. I *REFUSE* to believe the man who defeated me No less than THREE TIMES, I might add, and thereby caused love him would choose such a thing, Jenius Maximillian.

Do we have another choice? *ANY* other choice, Miliya? I would not choose to send ANY of our daughters into danger if I could, any more than you would!

Then how do we protect her?

We assign this Micheal Thunders, this Star Ranger as he calls himself This Wanderer, as Chiba-sensei calls him, to you, as well as Lt. Gamlin, who is the sole survivor at the moment of Battle 7 s elite flight. I can draft a second pilot if you don t have a candidate of your own. Assign all three of them to Diamond Force under your own command, with orders that their efforts are the direct protection of the members of Fire Bomber both in combat and aboard while Chiba builds the hardware for Project M.

I wish

Milyia. When we first met you believed in me unconditionally. Enough to leave EVERYTHING you knew as a Meltrandi to be Micronized and defeat me, only to choose to be with me. I ask you this once more. Let me do this as a way to protect you and our youngest.

For our youngest, yes. And having Lt. Gamlin closer to hand might have another benefit as well. I am hoping Mylene might just find him suitable.

Our Daughter who defied both of us in order to become a passionate performer in her own right? Somehow, I don t think what you think of as the traditional ways for either of us will help Lt. Gamlin. You do realize she has been attracting almost as many fans as that maniac Basara?

I don t know that maniac is truly the right term. Passionate, definitely. Flying into a combat zone in the hopes his singing will affect the enemy does come close. But, somehow, I don t think he is truly insane, my husband.

Then this is probably the best plan we have for now. Miliya? What happened? To Us?

We lost Miyasa and Hikaru. As Chiba s Wanderer said. They were our friends. Their departure leading the second colony fleet was already hard on us. Then when the second colony fleet vanished the way it did

Hurt me as well. So, you threw yourself into your duties to organize the Colonist section of the fleet, while I hid in my duties to prepare our military force.

And grew apart because the needs of the two are so different. What becomes of us now, Captain?

We buy Time, Madam Mayor. Time to get our charges to safety. Time until our duties no longer drive us apart. Delay until we have the freedom to see if we can regain what we both buried away in our hearts.

And until then?

What we have always done. Pretend to be strong. Defend our peoples and our daughter. And then, maybe, we have hope.


	2. Chapter 2

p class="MsoNormal""Ah, Warrior a name="_Hlk28933121"/aKisaki," Muck observed from the bed he was sitting on as the door to 'his' medical cell opened./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Not style="mso-spacerun: yes;" style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanLieutenant Gamlin, to you," Gamlin corrected with a grimace before tossing a garment at style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Get/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThe Captain wants to see you."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Nice of Cap'n Jenius to not demand I go parading through the halls in a backless hospital gown, El Teea style="mso-comment-reference: _1;"." (1)/aspan class="MsoCommentReference"span style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 107%;"!- [if !supportAnnotations]-a id="_anchor_1" class="msocomanchor" href="file:/C:/Users/star_ . .docx#_msocom_1" name="_msoanchor_1"[1]/a!-[endif]-span style="mso-special-character: comment;" /span/span/spana style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title="" href="file:/C:/Users/star_ . .docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1"span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"!- [if !supportFootnotes]-span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"[1]/span/span!-[endif]-/span/span/aspan style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe shook it out and examined it briefly before starting to slip it on under his hospital style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Flight suit?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanDuty jumpsuit?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanEither way it seems clear Max doesn't want me to stand out that much."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Jumpsuit, but I'm not going to presume as to the Captain's style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanYou'll have to wait and ask him yourself, if you want."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""I do style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanI see you've not drawn your sidearm this time though."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Should I have?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Hard to say style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanWell, since I don't remember you doing anything to make me classify you as a threat, but as you've drawn down on me at least once that I remember, tells me YOU see ME as a threat."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""I do."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Care to elaborate?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""No."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"" style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanSo, do I lead, or follow?" Muck asked, finishing zipping up the jumpsuit and approaching the door./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"Gamlin style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Which makes you least comfortable?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"Muck folded his arms and style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Sorry, you're the one allegedly in charge here style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanYou have to style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanCall it the burden of power, command, or whatever you style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanWhatever gets you through the night."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"" style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanOne pace ahead and to my right, then."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Just remember you need to tell me which way we need to turn instead of just shooting style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThat will turn out bad for one of style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanNot going to say which of us, though," Muck replied, then transferred his attention to the door that slid open in front of the style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanBehind said door was a room that indicated by its décor that where he'd been was something of a cross between an interrogation cell and a hospital treatment style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThe quality of the furnishings would seem to indicate people who understood that some people judged them by such things, but refused to allow themselves to be driven to style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanWhich matched his memories of the Maximillian and Milia he knew all those years and fica ago./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in; text-indent: .5in;"*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"Gamlin Kizaki did his best to hide any uncertainty about the situation he found himself in as he directed the prisoner his captain and his mayor had…span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spancommanded?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanEntrusted to him?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanGamlin supposed the exact status of the person he was escorting was secondary to his ability to deliver him to Captain Jenius' office safely; but the teachings of his basic flight and combat trainer…span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanaka the Mayor of the Seventh Colony fleet?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanShe'd expect him to be ever vigilant, regardless of if he was in the cockpit of a Valkyrie or escorting a…/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"Gamlin cursed to himself as he realized that this train of thought had caused him to not be vigilant; that he and this 'Muck' had exited the rear entrance of the medical center, headed towards the transport that would take them to their meeting, only to have Muck reach back and pin Gamlin in general, and Gamlin's sidearm in specific against the faux brick of the style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanGamlin found himself looking down at his chest, at his arm and his now useless sidearm pinned by the metallic arm across his chest for a moment before forcing his gaze up and to the right at the captor he had assumed was HIS style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanMuck had transformed from the Miclone Gamlin thought of him as into his metallic form that Gamlin had seen Muck shift into while unconscious and apparently delirious, given the speed and precision of the transformation just now. He'd opened his mouth to shout; for additional security or just in protest of Muck's unilateral actions he wasn't sure; but while he couldn't actually see Muck's eyes anymore, nor did a battroid have a mouth, yet somehow the miclone sized VF-1S managed to convey the image of the man who'd been standing there a second ago holding a cautionary finger to his lips in a traditional gesture of silence./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Hear that, Kisakai?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Air Raid Sirens?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanVAMPIRES"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Vampires?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanLike flipping Dracula?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Doc Chiba doesn't think so", Gamlin said, then found himself ducking involuntarily as three enemy fighter craft screamed style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"No fang style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanAnd they don't kill, but turn their victims into vegetables instead."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"" style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanGet your Valk, Gamlin, and get your arse back here."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""And where are you going to be?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Steering to the sound of the guns, Gamlin," Muck replied, pushing Gamlin away, his wings snapping open in conjunction with his flight thrusters snarling to style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"GET ME SOME VERDAMNED SUPPORT, LIEUTENANT!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"Gamlin rolled with the shove and took off running for the closest ERTS a style="mso-comment-reference: _2;"point [2]/aspan class="MsoCommentReference"span style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 107%;"!- [if !supportAnnotations]-a id="_anchor_2" class="msocomanchor" href="file:/C:/Users/star_ . .docx#_msocom_2" name="_msoanchor_2"[2]/a!-[endif]-span style="mso-special-character: comment;" /span/span/span a style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title="" href="file:/C:/Users/star_ . .docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2"span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"!- [if !supportFootnotes]-span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"[2]/span/span!-[endif]-/span/span/ahe recalled, even as he lifted the communicator strapped to his wrist./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""D 3 to Battle 7!span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanD 3 to Battle 7!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""This is Battle style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanSay your traffic, D-3!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Enemy ships INSIDE Island 7, B-7!span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanRequesting immediate Valkyrie Interdiction!" Gamlin snapped as he threw himself down the ERTS style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"D 3 In-route to scramble in support, B-7!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Battle 7 copies all, D style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanBreak!span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanALL STATIONS, ALL STATIONS! Clear this channel and stand by!"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanMiho Miho's voice echoed through Gamlin's communicator as the Valkyrie pilot sprinted across the transit platform to what emergency protocols told Gamlin would be a transit car that would transport him to the closest transit point to Gamlin's VF-17./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"" style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanStandby for Battle 7 actual," Miho warned./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""This is style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanGo ahead Battle 7 actual!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Diamond style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThis is Battle 7 actual.[3]a style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title="" href="file:/C:/Users/star_ . .docx#_edn3" name="_ednref3"span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"!- [if !supportFootnotes]-span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"[3]/span/span!-[endif]-/span/span/aspan style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanState your location."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""En route via ERTS to my Valk, Sir."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Where is your prisoner Gamlin?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""To use his own words, Sir, 'Steering to the sound of the guns.' SIR!span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanD-3 is scrambling in support, sir!" [4]a style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title="" href="file:/C:/Users/star_ . .docx#_edn4" name="_ednref4"span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"!- [if !supportFootnotes]-span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"[4]/span/span!-[endif]-/span/span/a/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Negative style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanLieutenant Gamlin Kisaki, you are now Diamond 1 actual, Not Diamond 3" Maximillian Jenius style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Otherwise, proceed as briefed style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanChase those damn mecha out of the fleet."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Diamond 1 copies all, Sir!" Gamlin acknowledged as he sprinted across the hanger bay to his waiting Valkyrie, waving away his crew chief as Gamin threw himself into his cockpit./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Then get out there and bring that wayward sheep home before Island 7 goes ballistic on both of us."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Diamond 1. style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanOut," Gamlin acknowledged as his cockpit style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanNo time for his flight suit, he was going to have to make like that maniac Basra and hope his cockpit didn't get damaged./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"a name="_Hlk28298226"/aspan style="mso-tab-count: 3;" /span*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"In combat, adrenaline does strange things to one's perceptions of style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanEven though thanks to the timing circuits of the probe he'd been merged with all those years ago Muck always knew both true duration and local time, Effective duration was still style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanWhich meant that it didn't matter how long he'd been engaging these Vampyr, as Gamlin had called style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanSubjectively it was half a fricking lifetime ago; He'd been overconfident and flippant when he'd told Gamlin he was steering for the sound of the style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThe problem was that he'd found the guns…span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanand found most of his offensive options were totally ineffective against the enemy mecha; while the Star Shield could and did block enemy attacks and Star Sword was able to pierce the enemy armor with ease, He'd forgotten why during his time aboard the SDF-1 he'd concentrated on being a Veritech style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanAnd was having the point driven home, in spades once style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThe vitals of an enemy mecha ten times his size were just too well protected for him to get to before being counter attacked, nor did these mecha have the same stupidly accessible weak point the old Regult 'ostrich' battlepods did./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"So, Muck was stuck on the style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe could stop any single attack on the civilian population of this city, but he couldn't take the attacking mecha out of the style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanAnd he was one person, badly style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanNo way he could be everywhere he needed to style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanDammit, he needed a firepower upgrade!span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanWhere the flaming flack was Gamlin?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe'd been a verdamnt idiot about all style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanHe knew he could transmit and receive any audio band transmission he'd yet been exposed to, but that didn't mean these people were using frequencies or protocols he was familiar with… span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanBut his 'Other half?'/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanTwo primary RF transmission sequences identified and style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanOne matches experiential waveform and language style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanPatching us into that audio 'feed'. /p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Battle 7, Island style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanD 1 LAUNCHING!span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanRequesting vector!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"*Is that? */p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanPilot Gamlin appears to have style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanUnable to determine location, must assume he is outside of sensor range, unable to predict ETA. /p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"*Understood, * Muck acknowledged, hoping it would force the probe AI into quiescence when his concentration was disrupted by something occluding the light from above him./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"/EVADE! / his probe-self warned, for once Muck found himself ahead of the 'combat curve' and had been moving out of the line of attack as a grey something flashed past him and embedded itself into the mecha he had been trying to block and draw away from the citizens of the city he'd found himself in./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"*What the? */p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"/Lack of style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanAudio information incoming! /p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"*What the flack? */p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"/Analysis in style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThe new combatant appears to have launched a transceiver that is transmitting audio information directly into the enemy mecha. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanEnemy combat efficiency is dropping. /p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"*I'm seeing a Minmei grade psy-op?*/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"/Affirmative. /p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"*HA!span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanLet's go and follow their lead, and do the Planet Dance! */p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"Muck wasn't sure if he personally liked the singing he was style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThis was the first time he'd heard, for lack of a better term 'combat singing' since he'd left the SDF-1; and while Planet Dance had its merits, to Muck's ears it wasn't "We Will Win", style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanBased on the rapidly degrading combat performance of what he had assumed were the enemy mecha, though…span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanIt didn't matter if the duo he was hearing appealed to his own tastes or not, the disruptive effect they were having on the enemy was turning the tide of style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanLiterally, as the enemy mecha were now retreating even as a third mecha type was now arriving, using its transformation from fighter form to a Battroid (though more on the enemy scale than Muck's own) to quickly dump velocity and hover in front of him./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"/Detecting assumed priority audio style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanConnecting. /p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Thunders, D1!span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanRespond!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""D1, Star style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanSorry, but I've relieved the requested party on station, LT," Muck replied, glad that his metallic form should be projecting a sense of sangfroid in spite of the weapon barrel as large as his head being directly in line, and at point blank range from said style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanMuck hoped Gamlin was bright enough to pick up on the subtext here; he was pretty sure catching a round from whatever this weapon fired would cause a ! with ! error./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""D-1 copies, Star style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanFall in on my wing; we have an appointment to get back to."span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanMuck breathed a sigh of relief, confident it wouldn't be heard by his new ally./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""D-1, Ranger copies style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanForming up in Right Echelon[5]a style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title="" href="file:/C:/Users/star_ . .docx#_edn5" name="_ednref5"span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"!- [if !supportFootnotes]-span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"[5]/span/span!-[endif]-/span/span/a ell tee."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 3;" /span*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span*/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"Muck was not surprised at the office he and Gamlin wound up in, the instructions changing where this meeting would take place from Captain Jenius' office to MAYOR Jenius' office has come through while on approach to land back on the central island ship of the colonization fleet; the one Muck had been defending without even realizing the scale he was working at, but he had to admit to himself that the size disparity he had just faced had made the situation brutally clear./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"The décor of Milia's office was, even more than its placement in the building at the city center, clearly that of a leader of civilians over what Muck would have assumed would be a relatively austere office if this meeting was taking place in CAPTAIN Jenius' style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanEverything about it seemed to be about emphasizing the occupants state of power and privilege, leaving Muck to wonder how it was Milia hadn't totally destroyed her workspace; it was so unlike the Milia he knew he entertained a brief fantasy of Milia destroying this space at least once a week but ordering it rebuilt just as it was before because 'that is the way the office of the mayor is SUPPOSED to look'./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"Of more concern, though, was the tension clearly evident between Captain (or was it Admiral?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanIn Muck's experience Captain was the person in command of a single style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanTHIS Jenius was in command of a Fleet of transports and escorts!) and Mayor style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanMuck had lost track of the number of relationships he'd had to meddle in over the numerous fica he'd found himself in; while there was almost no chance any other person in the room at the moment would remember, even if they ever had been exposed to 'Quantum Leap'a style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title="" href="file:/C:/Users/star_ . .docx#_edn6" name="_ednref6"span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"!- [if !supportFootnotes]-span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"[6]/span/span!-[endif] style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanGetting his mental train back on track it seemed clear to him that Jenius Maximillian and Jenius Milia really needed a marital intervention to get their relationship back on 'track'; it would not be the first time that such a seemingly minor thing would turn out to be what was needed to 'set right that what once went wrong'a style="mso-endnote-id: edn7;" title="" href="file:/C:/Users/star_ . .docx#_edn7" name="_ednref7"span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"!- [if !supportFootnotes]-span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"[7]/span/span!-[endif] style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanIf anything, it seemed like the cosmic entity that had sent him on this quantum quest was MORE interested in these sort of small fixes (that might, or might not, have a multiplicative 'Butterfly' effect) than the larger sort that laid despots low, shattered galactic empires, or other such reality defining style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanTo be honest with himself, Muck really was a lot more comfortable with the smaller changes it had turned out to be the reason he had been in any particular fica leap along his quest./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"This thought was secondary to whatever quest Captain and Mayor Jenius were about to conscript him to, but if it got him access to something that would even the size disparity, he was willing./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Lieutenant Gamlin Kisaki and… guest, reporting as ordered, Sir; Ma'am."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""At ease Lieutenant, Ranger?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThunders?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Thunders in my human form; Star Ranger in the style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanIts sort of a… thing where I come style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanNot a true secret identity, I suppose, but I do like to keep them style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanKind of like only responding to one's call sign while in the cockpit."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"" Just who and what are you, then?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""I have been Roland, Beowulf, Mary Sue, DJ Croft, Skysaber…[8]span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spana style="mso-endnote-id: edn8;" title="" href="file:/C:/Users/star_ . .docx#_edn8" name="_ednref8"span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"!- [if !supportFootnotes]-span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"[8]/span/span!-[endif]-/span/span/aand kidding."span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanSeeing Milia's look of unamused confusion, Muck changed tactics as he continued style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I do that a style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanAside from what you've already seen and been told, I'm a wanderer, doing sort of a Quantum Leap from fica to fica trying to find my way style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanAnd maybe helping others along the way."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""And how is it you propose to help?" interjected Milia./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Well, that depends on what sort of help you are willing to accept, Madam style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanI'd prefer to work WITH the local authorities, but I can do Batman if I have style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanMore so here, since your Vampires seem to be mecha that leave me feeling a bit… inadequate."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""That can be style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanAssuming Lt. Gamlin signs off on your being qualified to pilot a VF-17," Cap'n Jenius style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Since we are starting to move the fleet into the VF-19."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""And what happens to me, Sir?" Gamlin found himself breaking into the conversation, his fears over-riding his sense of decorum and protocol./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""You remain in command of Diamond style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanWhat you might not want to hear is that I am assigning Diamond to point defense of Island style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThat means you will be working directly for Mayor Milia most of the style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThunders here will be your number 2, assuming he qualifies to your style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanI'll transfer a third from the pilot pool."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""But SIR!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""No BUTS, style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThis is NOT a demotion; but a transfer to where you can do the most good until you have time to transition to the '19," Max replied in a tone that to Muck was supposed to cut off any further style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"You are being assigned where you can be of the best style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanChannel your heritage to show me this is the right decision…span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanYou wanted to add instructions, Madam Milia?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Yes, style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanI would like to request that the pilots of Diamond Force, since they will be under my command, patrol the colony ships in general and Island 7 in specific because we have had attacks against our population even when enemy mecha have not been style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanPerhaps Diamond Force, or perhaps just 'Muck' can interdict and stop the non-mecha based attacks?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""I can only try. Ma' style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanI must caution I am only one person, style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanEven with Lt. Gamlin and our third pilot, the three of us can only be in so many places at once, Ma'am."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"" style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanOur situation is dire, style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanAnything can only be seen as an improvement."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Thunders copies all, then, Madam style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanJust trying to head off unrealistic expectations, Ma'am."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"" style="mso-spacerun: yes;" style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanOutside, Please?" Max demanded, so the two pilots, one official, one provisional followed him out of Milia's office./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""One additional order."span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanMax stated as the door closed behind the style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"I have authorized a special unit, called 'Sound Force,' under the supervision of Dr. Chiba."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Chiba." Muck style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Short guy, right at the service weight limits?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanWired me for sound while out cold?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"" style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanAnd the reason I am convinced you are what you claim, Thunders; instead of being held in a maximum-security facility," Max replied with a style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Don't make me revisit that choice."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Sir, Yessir!" Muck acknowledged, even as he snatched the foot closest to Gamlin away before the pilot could kick him in the ankle, before the pair exchanged a quick glare at each other before returning their attention to their erstwhile commanding officer./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"From Max's 'spock eyebrow', the captain was clearly NOT AMUSED; but confined his displeasure to a brief clearing of his throat before style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Sound Force is comprised of non-combatant singers of the band Fire style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanPacifists who follow the tau of style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanOne of whom is the daughter of myself and the style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanDiamond force WILL protect them, even if it conflicts with other orders."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Sir!span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanYES SIR!"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanGamlin acknowledged./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Three bags full, SIR!"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanMuck followed up, causing Max to facepalm as he left Milia's outer office./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"*My gods.* Max thought to style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span*Were Milia and I that flippant to Hikaru and Misa?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanWere we worse? */p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
div style="mso-element: endnote-list;"!- [if !supportEndnotes]-br clear="all" /hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /!-[endif]-  
div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;"  
p class="MsoEndnoteText"a style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title="" href="file:/C:/Users/star_ . .docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1"/a /p  
p class="MsoEndnoteText"span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"!- [if !supportFootnotes]-span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"[1]/span/span!-[endif]-/span/span (1) This is verbally spelling out L T, = A standard military shorthand for Lieutenant, which can represent, depending on the service, up to the first three 'common' officer ranks (0-1 through 0-3) as defined by the United States Military./p  
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div id="edn2" style="mso-element: endnote;"  
p class="MsoEndnoteText"a style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title="" href="file:/C:/Users/star_ . .docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2"span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"!- [if !supportFootnotes]-span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"[2]/span/span!-[endif]-/span/span/a (2) ERTS: Emergency response transportation system; aka a plot device meant to explain how Pilots (and Basara Nikki) can get to their fighters, and into combat, so quickly/p  
p class="MsoEndnoteText" /p  
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div id="edn3" style="mso-element: endnote;"  
p class="MsoEndnoteText"a style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title="" href="file:/C:/Users/star_ . .docx#_ednref3" name="_edn3"span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"!- [if !supportFootnotes]-span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"[3]/span/span!-[endif]-/span/span/a (3) yes, this is supposed to represent the sort of actual commo traffic that would be going style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanKnowing who is who is important./p  
p class="MsoEndnoteText" /p  
/div  
div id="edn4" style="mso-element: endnote;"  
p class="MsoEndnoteText"a style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title="" href="file:/C:/Users/star_ . .docx#_ednref4" name="_edn4"span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"!- [if !supportFootnotes]-span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"[4]/span/span!-[endif]-/span/span/a (4) Three bags full, sir…/p  
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div id="edn5" style="mso-element: endnote;"  
p class="MsoEndnoteText"a style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title="" href="file:/C:/Users/star_ . .docx#_ednref5" name="_edn5"span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"!- [if !supportFootnotes]-span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"[5]/span/span!-[endif]-/span/span/a (5) In military pilot speak, this means Muck will be right off Gamlin's right wingtip where Gamlin can easily see Muck, which means even without Gamlin's VF-17 being so much larger Muck has put himself at a maneuvering disadvantage in order to make Gamlin more comfortable./p  
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div id="edn6" style="mso-element: endnote;"  
p class="MsoEndnoteText"a style="mso-endnote-id: edn6;" title="" href="file:/C:/Users/star_ . .docx#_ednref6" name="_edn6"span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"!- [if !supportFootnotes]-span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"[6]/span/span!-[endif]-/span/span/a Refer to a href=" wiki/Quantum_Leap" wiki/Quantum_Leap/a for more style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanYes, Muck is jumping from fica to fica, hoping each leap will be the one home…span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanWHICH 'home' is open for debate though?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanThe strict definition is what he recalls as his 'origination' fica (see the very first scene of 'Wandering Moon' at: a href=" s/6936/1/Tales-of-the-Wanderer-Book-1-Wandering-Moon" s/6936/1/Tales-of-the-Wanderer-Book-1-Wandering-Moon/a ) is not the same as where he wants to wind up as (See the EPILOGE: a href=" s/6936/14/Tales-of-the-Wanderer-Book-1-Wandering-Moon" s/6936/14/Tales-of-the-Wanderer-Book-1-Wandering-Moon/a)span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanShameless plug?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span*Snort* Shameless is the LEAST offensive thing I've been called over the years./p  
p class="MsoEndnoteText" /p  
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div id="edn7" style="mso-element: endnote;"  
p class="MsoEndnoteText"a style="mso-endnote-id: edn7;" title="" href="file:/C:/Users/star_ . .docx#_ednref7" name="_edn7"span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"!- [if !supportFootnotes]-span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"[7]/span/span!-[endif]-/span/span/a (7)span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanCan you say 'FORSHADOWNING?'span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanI knew you could!/p  
p class="MsoEndnoteText" /p  
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div id="edn8" style="mso-element: endnote;"  
p class="MsoEndnoteText"a style="mso-endnote-id: edn8;" title="" href="file:/C:/Users/star_ . .docx#_ednref8" name="_edn8"span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"!- [if !supportFootnotes]-span class="MsoEndnoteReference"span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"[8]/span/span!-[endif]-/span/span/a (8)span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanI swiped this from Bob Schroeck,( /) with permission, who apparently recalls it from yet a third style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanI have Bob's permission to use this, but if someone else objects… well…span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spansend me a style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanI'll either agree or tell you to pound sand./p  
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	3. Chapter 3

Muck found himself blowing out a breath of relief as the simulator cockpit opened over him. He forced himself to wait until he could vault out to the deck and eye Gamlin. He was certain how he'd done, but he also knew that the final verdict was Gamlin's.

"So, how did I do in your eyes, LT?"

Speaking of said third party, though, it looked like Muck had managed to *TOTALLY* break Lieutenant Gamlin Kizakai, his alleged impartial third party, based on Gamlin's thoroughly 'gob-smacked' look at the moment. Gamlin looked at Muck, then back at the simulator control console, then back to Muck again.

Muck facepalmed for a moment, the tried again. "Muck to Gamlin… come in Gamlin!"

Gamlin finally showed some sign of recovery as he held up a palm to Muck. "D-1 copies your traffic. Wait one." Gamlin otherwise ignored him and leaned forward conversing with the rating running the simulator; looking intently at the data thrown on the screen in response to his request. As much as Muck wanted Gamlin to confirm what he was sure of, Muck was also sure that rattling Gamlin's chain at this point would work against Muck instead of in his favor; and so forced himself to wait patiently, even though all his time as what any comic title would call a 'superhero' had primed him for instant decisions and reactions. All of those reactions would be wrong at the moment, though. Gamlin had the final say, to disturb him at the moment just might cause him to rule against him out of pure spite.

Muck could have know just how long he'd waited, but decided against it when Gamlin finally straightened up and shook himself much like a dog would before looking over at Muck.

"When I was a flight cadet back on Mars, my initial instructor was Milia Jenius. She told me I needed to become one with my mecha, to know everything it was telling me. This data says you've surpassed me in the ship I have the most flight hours in, even though this should be the first time you've been in its cockpit?"

"Hell, LT. Haven't you figured out I cheat yet?"

"So, your NOT qualified to pilot a VF-17?"

"Oh, I'd say I am. But the particulars here are not for enlisted ears, LT," Muck pointed out with a nod at the rating staring at both of them. "Perhaps someplace where there aren't little pitchers with big ears?"

Gamlin nodded, grabbing Muck by the arm and pointing the two of them to the hatch. "I know a place," he assured, before looking behind the pair. "Dismissed, sergeant. I get word you said anything to anyone other than Cap'n Jenius…"

"Sir, understood sir!"

Muck sighed after finishing a long draft of the beer in his hand, setting it down on the table between he and Gamlin Kizakai, gazing out the armored glass into deep space.

"So. Your wondering how the heck I am so proficient as a pilot, Kizakai. Both of the mark 17 you tested me on as well as my own claim I am, or was, fully qualified in the VF-01, right?"

"Well, that and your claim you cheated, Thunders."

"Well, Gamlin, that depends on how one defines cheating. How old do I look to you?"

Gamlin blew out a long breath and contemplated the level of beer in his mug; sadly there was too much left in it to try and use the excuse of ordering a new one as a delaying tactic.

"Somewhere in your late twenties, early thirties, like myself," Gamlin admitted, to be rewarded by a fairly impressive snort of liquids out of Thunders nose, followed by Muck cursing about how having done so really HURT!

"Add a hundred years of living, and a dozen or more other fica to that estimate, Kizakai."

"WHAT?"

"Patience, my Padawan. You are about to hear all about it as long as you keep seated and listen; well… assuming you can get that cute barmaid to bring us another round."

"You realize if a pilot or enlisted told me a story like that I'd send him to the brig for over embellishing his sea story?" Gamlin sighed after hearing Muck's tale. (1)1

Muck nodded. "And yet, no shit, there I was;" he confirmed, hoisting his drink in the traditional gesture for a toast.

"How the expletives deleted are you still alive?"

"DamnifIknow, Kizakai."

"But you LIVED it. How can you NOT know?"

"Kind of my point Kizakai. I LIVED it. Things happened way to fast to really get how it was I made it through at times. Sure, the big things I could probably remember, but breaking down just how I managed to dodge each and every attack during the crazy moments? I'd argue YOU were the crazy one, Mate. All I really remember is being expletives deleted glad I was still alive when the dust settled."

"Hmm. Speaking of settling dust. I have a couple of notifications here; one from Cap'n Max saying he's confirming my assessment that you are qualified to fly a vf-17; as well as the specific tail number[2] 2of your new Valk. This is followed by a reminder from him that the two of us are to report… um… like 5 minutes ago to Madam Mayor Milia for the briefing about what is next for the two of us."

"Aww Bugger, Lt. Your saying we're already late?" From Michael's inflection he was not happy with hearing that information. The fact that he was standing and draining the last of his drink confirmed that Muck was now aware that the two of them needed to get going, so Gamlin matched him in getting to his feet and finishing his own drink.

"Yes."

"Then less talk, more walk, l t!"

"ERTS access is the other way, Muck."

"Oh."

"There you two are." Milia Fallyna Jenius observed when the pair finally were ushered into her office. "Where have you been?"

"Well, with all due respect, Ma'am," Muck countered even as he nudged Gamlin with his elbow to keep his ersatz commanding officer quiet, "I do believe that while the L.T. and I work for you now, the assignment wasn't official until Cap'n Max officially approved all of this. Which, in the L.T.'s defense, we just got the word about, and reported to you as quickly as we could."

Oh (Bleep). That was a definite twitching eyebrow; Nothing good ever happened to Muck anytime he was on the receiving end of a look like that. Best he was going to be able to do was probably direct the about to be expressed displeasure onto himself and away from Gamlin Kizakai.

"I… see. And what else were you told?"

"Innermost line of defense for Island 7. Combat escort for Sound Force sorties. Additional duties to be assigned by you."

Milia sat back in her chair and contemplated the pair. "Sound Force. My youngest daughter is a member of that unit."

"Um, yes Ma'am, Madam mayor, Ma'am." Gamlin looked ready to try and step in and catch the displeasure still lingering in Milia's voice; Muck resorted to stepping on his (Kizakai's) toes to keep his partner safe. "I think the Cap'n made the same point, with the same don't we dare let anything happen to her glare you're using right now."

"I see. While the commodore and myself are often at odds due to our conflicting areas of interest, I think you would be safe to assume we are in accord on that topic, Lieutenant Thunders."

"Lieutenant?"

"Yes, and Gamlin there is now officially promoted to Lieutenant Commander. Can't have him relying on time in rank and service alone.[3]3 Right now, I need you two to go talk to Chiba about what Sound Force is and is not, and just how my daughter fits into it. Then report back here."

"Ma'am, yes Ma'am!"

Muck winced as he followed Gamlin into Chiba's quarters. The walls were lined with, if perhaps not life sized, but very large, very high-quality posters of Lynn Minmei. Even before he laid eyes on the good doctor himself, he knew this was the sign of a serious otaku. Perhaps even explained Chiba's self-described foray into understanding 'sound energy'.

"L T…"

"Shhh. I know."

This screamed to Muck this was not the first time Gamlin had been here. Given the level of Otaku'ism' Muck saw here, as well as Chiba's professed prowess at 'sound energy'… Muck guessed it was not pleasant, for Gamlin anyway. No way to tell without asking Gamlin about it directly, something Muck was unwilling to do in front of the 'Good Doctor'.

"Ah, Thunders. Gamlin. Welcome to the center of my research into sound energy."

OH man. That just dialed the creepy up to 11, in Muck's opinion.

"Doc Chiba, SAR! Lt. Thunders, Lt Cmdr[4]4 Gamlin, reporting as directed by Madam Mayor Jenius, SAH!" Muck shouted in his best parade ground voice.

"At ease, you two," Chiba sighed in exasperation. "So, according to the delivery I just got, Thunders here needs these?" Chiba spread his fingers and manifested several critical pieces of plastic one used to prove identity, military service status, and all other related benefits.

"Ayup, Doc, I do," Muck confirmed. "So, what are you willing to tell me about the Commodore and Mayor's 'Sound Force', other than their daughter is involved in it?"

"Well…"

"Micheal works just fine when I look like this. 'Muck', even better, Doc."

"All right, Muck. To be honest, even though I am officially the project lead, the basic idea didn't come from me. It comes from Ray Lovelock, an ex-pilot turned keyboardist," as Chiba explained, he turned to his computer terminal and started bringing images up on the screen. "He's the manager of Fire Bomber; Consider him sort of the brains of both the band and the force. I don't know that he is as big a fan of Lynn Minmei as I am, but he's even more the visionary who thinks song might just be a stronger weapon than a Macross cannon. The cool hand that keeps things from flying apart, if you will. He's the one who scouted and recruited the rest of Fire Bomber, convinced me to support his vision to the Commodore, and caused me to take theoretical studies forward into working hardware." Chiba brought up a new image, that of a powerfully built woman. "Veffidas Feaze. Fire Bomber's drummer. Not much known from her aside that from her build and rumors she seems to be the daughter of a micloned Meltran and Zentran couple. The tall, strong and silent type. Rumor, again, has it she might have made it to the top of the underground fight scene, only to step away and join Ray even before Basara Nekki did. These two will be flying together in a modified two seater VF-17D."

Chiba hit something that brought up new pictures and data on the screen. "Basara Nekki. Lead singer of Fire Bomber. Pilot of a custom VF-NINETEEN, our next generation fighter producible from on board resources. While Basara's Valkyrie has the same offensive missile capability of the proposed production versions, he chooses not to use said missiles. Well, on he used them ONCE, but it appears in the after action review he was not aware that they were live warheads, or what they might do to their targets. While the seemingly most pacifist of the 4, he has already been taking flight against the opposing forces. When he is bored, or thinks people are not paying attention to him?" Chiba paused and drew breath before continuing. "Basara Nekki is kind of like the worst of… Keith Richards, Angus McReady and…

"I'd say some-ONE akin to Kurt Kobain, Doc" Muck replied, attempting to finish the sentence posed to him. "Also known as a self-centered, self-absorbed, self destructive summabiatch, Doc?"

"Can't say you're wrong, Thunders-san."

"Keep that in mind Doc. I expect I WILL be wrong sooner rather than later. Because… um… Kismet?"

"I… see. Why do you think the fates hate you that badly?"

"Not 'hate', Doc. More like 'put up with' so I can set right what once went wrong," Muck countered.

"So you are saying?"

"I am saying not an (expletives deleted) thing Doc. The people I believe I am working for would probably 'punch my ticket'[5]5if I did, so, I think you are just going to have to trust me on this[6].6 I recognize his Valk, though.

"Given you stood in final defense of him during the last attack, I would say you should, Muck."

"Good to hear, Doc. So, Basara is the second most important member of Sound Force?"

Chiba bowed his head, and Muck imagined the sigh cloud he'd seen in anime past in the doctor's sigh of expiration. "An assumption, Thunders. Believed, but not yet proven."

"And said assumption is, Doc?"

"That Mylene, the daughter of our mayor and my commanding officer, might be capable of putting Basara to shame in terms of Sound Energy."

"Gotta admit that sounds kinda sexist that you think it is the young woman, and not her older more experience male compainion, Doc. Maybe even more than a bit ecchi and creepy?"

"Oh, it gets worse. This is her Vf-19"

"Doc. That vf-19 has BOOBS."

"Unavoidable, Thunders. Only place to put the sound booster gear. Basara's is a separate add on that has to be launched and mated to his 19 in flight."

"Still say it is ecchi, Doc."

"An accusation I will live with if this works."

Muck found himself facepalming. "Just doesn't reflect well on ya, Doc."

"I'll take the villainization if it gives us victory, Thunders."

"The fight is that close run?"

"Yes," Chiba confirmed. "Now, you need to go report back to the Mayor."

Muck waited until the two of them were in the relative isolated safety of the transport system before saying more. "That… was SERIOUSLY Surreal, Boss."

Gamlin scoffed. "It was nothing compared to my first encounter."

"Sounds like the sort of sea story that only gets shared after 18 hours past drunk o clock, Kisaki."

"More like day 2 or 3 of that sort of bender, if EVER, Muck."

"Still doesn't answer a lot of other questions about this that are bothering me."

"Like?"

"Like both you and the Mayor made it clear these vampire valks are an issue. Somehow I get the impression that there have been problems that are not as obvious as enemy mecha piercing the defensive lines and gaining access to the civilian areas; So, Infiltrators. Logic screams they were inserted during the chaos of past raids like the one we just responded too."

"Yes. And yes, it means they could have been re-enforced by additional personnel during the last raid."

"Carp. I'm going to need more backup than just you, Boss. When I portaled in, I was driving a vehicle. Going to need access for it for a large number of reasons. Least of which is it is where I keep all my stuff. Who can grant me access?"

"Given you crashed into the Mayors Personal VF-1, I'd expect she'd the one to ask."

"I bent Milia's Bird? Oh expletives deleted. Sideways. Without Lubrication." Muck threw himself back against the wall of the maglev train as he made that declaration.

"Yeah… but as the chief executive of the civilian population, she maybe has enough other distractions?"

"That seems about as likely as trying to draw to an Inside straight."

"Still happens once in 52 times, Muck."

"yeah. But the other 51?"

"Still comes down to asking our new boss. On the plus side, you can do that really soon," Gamlin observed as their transport slid into the station, stopped, and opened its doors.

"Ma'am. Diamond Force, returning for additional instruction as ordered, Ma'am."

"Acknowledged, Commander. And just what did you learn from the good doctor?"

Muck decided he needed to step in again. "That if the commander and I are going to be patrolling the fleet to combat the attacks on the citizens of the 7th fleet, we are going to need additional assistance. Both the commander and the Doctor have mentioned that the assistance I think will be needed will have to come from you since I think I kind of bent your personal bird with my arrival, madam mayor Milia."

"Yet you still ask."

"Yes, Ma'am. Kind of no choice, if only because I need a clean change of underwear. Still, I expect FRED to be more useful in a lot of ways other than what you might realize, Ma'am."

"And just who or what is FRED?"

"Big ol mil spec vehicle I was driving when I crashed into your Valk, Ma'am. Has a bunch of specialized gear I've acquired and would like to keep. Hoping they can help with the whole finding the source of the non valk vampire attacks."

"Hmm. Of more immediate concern, though. Commander Gamlin, Diamond Force reports to you. You report to me. I report to the Commodore. Is your immediate chain of command clear, Commander?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"Good. To facilitate your assignments, all members of Diamond Force will be quartered here in on Island 7 proper. The three of you will share an apartment in the same building as my Daughter, in fact, just a few floors down. Your BOQ allotments have been updated to reflect this, as well as the fact you will probably choose not to attempt to cook."

"Point of order, Ma'am. I do know enough not to put cooking oil in the coffee pot, Ma'am." Gamlin winced at seeing Milia's twitchy response to Muck's quip, and dug an elbow into Muck's side in an attempt to keep the irreverent wanderer from making things worse.

"Which brings up the last point," Milia continued in an ice-cold voice. "Diamond three." Milia looked over to her hulking bodyguard cum assistant. "Show the Ensign in, please"

"Ensign Richard Davis, reporting as ordered!" the young redhead announced, then went quiet, the rest of what he hoped would be a great introduction lost as the red head already in the room struggled not to howl out loud with laugher.

"Boss. Our FNG[7]7… is a red headed DICK."

"Breath D-2. We're all officers here, we have a certain amount of decorum to maintain. Especially in the presence of our immediate superior," Gamlin chided, though clearly struggling to maintain said decorum as well. "Fortunately for you Ensign, as a member of Diamond Force you only have to answer to D 3 or even Diamond 3 on radio. In fact, I insist on it. What you choose to answer to off duty is up to you. I suggest you be strong and only respond to nicknames you are comfortable with," Gamlin finished, glaring at 'D-2'.

"SIR!"

"D. d. D-2 copies all."

"This posting involves a permanent change of quarters, D-3. Pack up your gear, check with the barracks officer and get mine packed up as well. Report to our new quarters with it and await further orders. I'll be helping D-2 get a problem with his gear straightened out."

"Aye aye, Sir!"

"Dismissed, D-3."

Milia waited until the door closed behind the new pilot before continuing. "In response to Lt Thunders request for the monstrosity that bent my bird. I am referring you back to Chiba. He's the person best able to tell if your gear could do what you claim. Convince him, and I'll release FRED to you. If not, you'll have to make like a Marine."

"Improvise, adapt, and overcome. Nothing new there, but I'm surprised the fleet even knows what marines are."

"The location and implementations might differ, but the basic mission of kick the door in and hold a position remains. Now, get out of my sight you two. I have work to do."

It had taken a bit of back and forth, and more than a couple of moments of miscommunication, but eventually Muck found himself, along with Gamlin and Chiba, waiting as Michael, Milia's bodyguard cum assistant punched in an access code to a hatch just off the central hanger of Island 7. When the hatch slid open, Michael nodded as Muck held up a warning hand while the his other waved Gamlin and Chiba inside. After the hatch hissed closed behind the trio, Muck held up a finger to his lips, clearly asking for silence as Muck walked forward and placed his hand on the large, battered vehicle in the center of the room.

"Recognize Primary user Thunders. Authorization Thunders Omega Six Six. Recognize Admin user Thunders, Override authorization Klatu Vertu Est."

"Primary user recognized. Super User Recognized. Admin status Recognized. awaiting instructions."

"System Status, FRED."

"Primary personality and Cognisance processing on line. Mission Critical scanning systems on line. Severe Exterior damage present. Critical Failures present in primary motive systems. We're not driving out of here anytime soon, Muck."

"We'll get you fixed up, mate. Short term, recognize two new users."

"First new user. Please provide your palm for biometric scan, then state your name and provide a passcode."

Muck waved Gamlin forward. Gamlin was tentative, but placed his hand on the hood near Muck's hand and did his best to project confidence. "Gamilin Kisaki. Lieutenant Commander, UN Spacy. Passcode… Diamond lead actual."

"Access Level?"

"Standard Secondary, upgradable if needed."

"Access filed. Hello, Commander Gamlin. Please wait. Second new user?"

Chiba confidently stepped up and placed his hand near the other two. "Chiba Masahiro. Lieutenant, Un Spacy. Medical Corps, Unique Energy Specialist. Passcode… Lynn Minmei Lives."

"Pass code accepted. Admin. User access?"

"Special access granted. Everything related to 'sideways voyager' sensors and portals. Authorization Thunder ninety nine. As far as where we've been and what we've done? Sorry Doc, but I'm going to authorize that on a case by case basis."

"Access level defined. Passcode accepted. Welcome, Doctor Chiba. What next, Muck?"

"Doc Chiba here is the one you need to convince if I'm going to spring you and get you fixed up FRED. Data Point: we seem to be downstream of our time aboard the SDF-1, and at least one fica to the side. Jenius, instead of Sterling."

"Acknowledged. Is there anything else?"

"Yes. Unlock rear cargo door. Unlatch remote access unit. Unlatch containers Papa Echo 1 through 4"

In response to this both the hatch at the rear of the vehicle opened as well as the passenger side door.

"Rear door open. Requested cargo units unlatched. Doctor Chiba. It sounds like we will be having an extended discussion. I invite you to sit and be comfortable?"

Ensign 'Dick' Davis stepped through the hatch into the maintenance bay and had chaos erupt around him. This was not what he expected when his new flight lead had contacted him at the unit's new quarters (a fairly luxurious three-bedroom apartment in a building near the center of Island 7) and instructed him to grab 'rations for four' and bring it to this location.

"Thunders! Fred just stopped talking to me!" a voice Davis wasn't familiar with protested from the open door of what Davis assumed was a HMMWV[8]8; a military vehicle used by the then USA that was phased out by the start of the First Space War.

"Yeah, Doc, and I can see why. Wait one. Drop the bags Dick, and come over here." Muck lead 'Dick' over to the relic. "Put your hand on his hood and state your name, FNG."

"Richard Robert Davis. Ensign, New United Earth Spacy."

"Access Level."

'Muck' jumped back in. "Basic. Talk to him or not as you see fit Fred. Just don't clam up while he's around. Authorization Thunders six six."

"Access Granted. Returning to what I was saying, Doctor Chiba…."

Muck grabbed Dick's elbow and drug him back to where the food he'd been asked to set down was. "You don't have a need to know about that conversation kid. Trust me on that. Let's see what is for dinner instead."

So, Dick grabbed the bag of food he'd been given and followed Muck over to the work-bench with cabinets that lined one wall of the bay, where the pair laid it out. Muck looked at the collected foodstuffs for a long moment before asking "Kid, where did you get this?"

"There is a junior officer mess in town for guys on R&R. I went there and asked the NCO in charge. I thought I was going to get stuff that had already been cooked."

"Oh well, it probably woulda been cold by the time you got here if he had. Eh. I can work with most of this. Those are a problem, though," Muck replied, pointing at the Brussel sprouts. "You gotta be an Iron Chef to make those good eats. I might be able to do something with them though. Gonna need you to make an additional run though. Gonna need a pint of milk, a cube of butter, a 12 pack of beer and some ice. I'd also suggest getting them at the nearest market and not that JO mess."

"Raja. Um, who is paying for this?"

"You are, I'll pay you back after we're done here."

"And I can trust you?"

"You know where I live, Ensign. Even better than I do because you've been there today and I haven't yet. Now GIT!"

* * *

1 (1) Okay, this really should be two footnotes instead of just one. First, see the first three chapters of Tales of the Wanderer at:( u/5726/Star-Ranger) for the full details not included here; second… here is how to tell the difference between a fairy tale and a navy 'sea story'. A Fairy tale starts "Once upon a time"; while a sea story starts "No Sh!t, there I was." The implication here is that Muck is telling Gamlin everything he remembers, even if not spelled out here, from going to the USAF Academy right out of high school, to being an A-10 'Warthog' pilot, to the incident that made him the Star Ranger; through the events of TotW 1 through 3;(see link above) with the tertiary implication that he and Gamlin have more than one beer given the length of this tale.

2 [2] Right. Tail numbers. Kind of what it says on the tin? Shortest form, for those who are not aware, is that when any aircraft (also known as an airframe inside the military) is manufactured for the military (using the USA military here, because that is what I am most familiar with) they paint a unique number on its vertical stabilizer (what us civilians call the tail!) that will identify it for the rest of its service life. In fact, if my memory is correct, even civilian airlines keep track of said production 'tail number' as the way to keep track of both what happened to a specific airframe as well as any and all repairs to it, because you keep track of things like that about any airplane regardless of for whom or where it flys. Helps figure out what might have happened even in cases where a HMMWV comes out of an interdimensional portal and crashes into an airframe. They'd still note it happened (even if they don't understand WHAT happened) in case it becomes relevant as to why that specific airframe isn't flying now.

3 [3] This is a real thing. In military it is important to settle who is in charge here. (this is known as seniority) This is determined by official rank, but between two officers of the same official rank it is settled by how long an officer has held that rank (IE: Time in Rank,) as well as how long he has served in general. (IE: Time in Service)

4 [4] this is military shorthand for Lieutenant Commander, aka O-4. It is, I suppose, a weird rank name, but one no less weird than Lieutenant Colonel, which is an O-5 in non-navy named ranks. In actual use they are addressed as simply Commander, (when rank titles are used at all) which is *also* an 0-5 rank. Oh, and for the record, the USN rank of Captain is 0-6, equivalent to the Army, Air Farce (because they split from the Army) and Marine rank of Colonel. In those branches a Captain is an 0-3 (same as the naval rank of [O-3]Lieutenant!) Which leads me to the next point of this End-Note. Commodore is a TITLE, not an official rank. Its given to a Captain (O-6) who is also in charge of more than one vessel or unit (who's commanding officer may ALSO be an O-6) to delineate who is in charge here. Usually this is reserved for escort or squadron commanders. In Max Jenius's case, it represents that as the commander of the escort fleet, as well as 'Battle 7' the man bloody well deserves to be (in real world navy ranks) at LEAST a Rear Admiral (lower half); as even if one wishes to say that after Captain (promoted to Admiral after the Rain of Fire (aka BolDoza's bombardment of the Earth) and the loss of 99.9 percent of the planets serving admiralty grade officers along with the ENTIRE POPULATION) Gloval(or Global) was promoted to Admiral, Ichigo and Misa might? choose to remain one rank less out of respect for Gloval?

Well, I still, personally, think Maximillian Jenius should be at LEAST a Rear admiral (Lower half) if not a Rear Admiral (Upper Half) if only to allow for Rick Hunter, Aka Hikaru Ichigo, and Lisa, aka, Miyasa Hayse, to occupy the Vice Admiral slots after he (Gloval) was promoted to full Admiral (us rank equivalent O-10) because all the higher ranking officers got themselves killed by their own stupidity? Cause, um… seriously. Shoot first THEN negotiate? Killing mass numbers of the enemy only makes the other side LESS inclined to negotiate in my opinion.

5 [6] to be blunt, this is military speak for doing their darn-dest to kill my avatar. Thank goodness he can evoke the 'plot armor' perk?

6 [5]. Right. Anyone who want to really know if the fates love him, hate him, or whatever else are kindly invited to keep reading and commenting. Cause… um… I really like comments. Lets me know what I am doing correctly, and what I have wrong?

7 [7] FNG: Shorthand for Fuckin New Guy. And, yes, Military types can be just that juvenile. Summarily enforcing Dick as a nickname or call sign is something we would do.

8 [8] used-1988-american_general-m998_ (but in black)


End file.
